Shot narrowly missed home occupant

Hayden  Crawley has been sentenced to eight months’ home detention. PHOTO: FELICITY DEAR
Hayden Crawley has been sentenced to eight months’ home detention. PHOTO: FELICITY DEAR
An ongoing feud led to a shot being fired into a Tuatapere home, narrowly missing an occupant, a court has heard.

Hayden Crawley, 26, was sentenced in the Invercargill District Court yesterday for his part in the altercation.

He earlier pleaded guilty to possessing a firearm, unlawful assembly and an unrelated charge of possessing knuckle-dusters.

A police summary said during March last year, Crawley, his brother Enoch Carlisle, 21, and multiple other associates were in an "ongoing feud" with the victims.

This included the use of violence, vehicle collisions and firearms before the incident.

On March 29, Crawley, Carlisle and the rest of the group drove to the victims’ Tuatapere address.

They yelled and banged on the walls and windows before Carlisle used a piece of metal to smash a window.

Carlisle challenged them to come outside to fight, and said if they refused he would "come in and shoot them".

A member of the group fired a shot from a .22 rifle through a window. The bullet missed one occupant by about a metre, and hit the curtain on the other side of the room.

The summary said Crawley was a gang prospect and did not hold a firearms licence.

His father surrendered the firearm to police following the incident.

"I wonder if you realise just how serious this could have been," Judge Duncan Harvey said.

"If you continue to associate with [gang members], you’re likely to get yourself into further trouble."

On July 14, Crawley followed a group of men in Queenstown before police intervened.

While speaking to police, Crawley told them "I’m going to smack you in the face".

During processing, knuckle-dusters were found in his pocket.

The defendant told the court he did not know the weapon was prohibited as he had bought it from a dairy.

Judge Harvey sentenced Crawley to eight months’ home detention.

"You’re very lucky. Don’t come back to court," the judge said.

Carlisle was earlier sentenced to six months’ home detention, which he breached after serving two-thirds of the sentence.

He was held in custody following the breach and was resentenced to two months’ imprisonment in February.

felicity.dear@odt.co.nz